Knox County Republicans raise election funds, donate to local charities

Oct 21, 2013

Linda Bodnar and Trixie take a break at the sale

Rockland — Knox County Republicans raised more than $5,300 at a yard sale fundraiser held Columbus Day weekend.

A yard sale was held at the home of Joe and Linda Bodnar in Rockland. In addition to the money raised, the Republicans were able to donate merchandise to five different charitable entities. The Dana Farber Cancer Institute received stuffed animals and hand painted Christmas ornaments; a nursing home will be able to use many boxes of books; the Knox County animal shelter will benefit from clean sheets and blankets; the Rankin Center will utilize many fun prizes for games; and a Sunday school teacher from Portland was pleased to take a huge bag of stuffed animals for her pupils.

The remaining items were donated to Winks at the Rockland Transfer Station, which will further benefit many other local families. The event was a major step in the Knox County Republican Committee’s efforts to raise money for the 2014 campaign and election, while giving back to the residents in the Rockland area.

The majority of contents sold at the yard sale came from the estate of the late Kay Warren, a well-known member of the community. Warren worked at Pen Bay Medical Center and served as the Knox County Republican secretary.

Warren's family, Mr. and Mrs. Heath E. Warren of St. Inigoes, Md. gave a large portion of her estate to Joe and Linda Bodnar. In turn, they offered to hold a yard sale at their home in Rockland and to donate the proceeds to the KCRC.

Republican volunteers spent hundreds of hours transporting, pricing, sorting, cleaning and organizing the sale items. Numerous additional items were also donated by KCRC members. The Knox County Republican Committee wishes to thank all those volunteers who worked on this event, the KCRC website programmer, and the state GOP committee which helped to create and promote a Facebook event.